Call for crackdown on unlicensed tours

A group of exhausted illegal immigrants is being escorted into Haywharf when a tourist boat steams past in the background.

A guide gives a cheerful account of the proceedings and the tourists happily snap away as the immigrants are helped onto land.

To witnesses, it was an unethical and unprofessional commentary which, for the Malta Union of Tourist Guides, is the result of rampant illegal tours operating under the guise of tourist guides.

"The profession and reputation of tourist guides is constantly being undermined and marred by self-appointed guides - and nobody seems to bother," union president Glorianne Mizzi told The Times.

There are an estimated 200 official tour guides in Malta but despite the relatively healthy tourism figures, business is far from rosy.

The finger is pointed mainly at "bucket tours" which charge cheap prices for a "fully guided" tour, Ms Mizzi said. There are around five-big unlicensed companies offering tours, though there are several small ones making inroads as well.

While official tour guides charge Lm8 for a half-day tour and Lm18 for a full day, including transfers, lunch and museum entry fees, unlicensed guides will offer their services at give-away prices of around Lm4 for a trip to Gozo.

"What the tourists don't know is that they will have to pay for their ferry and lunch... and the driver himself will act as the guide," Ms Mizzi said.

Tourist guide Patricia Flores Martin narrates a recent incident when a group of tourists were bundled into a van and taken to Gozo and the only thing the illegal tour guide could talk about was potatoes and onions.

It is not unusual for tourists to be taken on an excursion to Ggantija, only to be told that they can tag along to one of the official guides, who happens to be operating in the temples. Twenty years ago unlicensed tour guides started operating out of a van but have now grown to operate the best transport and offer a multitude of services.

To rub salt in the wound, tour operated business is on the decline and many hotels are providing so many facilities that tour guides are automatically elbowed out.

Ms Mizzi fears that the rampant abuse in the sector is pushing trained guides out of business - in fact, some Swedish-speaking guides have already moved on to the gambling business. A licensed guide has to take a three-year course and his work is not merely to relate history, but to delve into folklore, law, gastronomy and tradition. Every two years the guides have to sit for refresher courses.

"We are really working hard to improve our standards but these people are really pushing us down," she said.

The union has often raised its objections with the respective authorities, but the stretched inspection resources clearly leave much to be desired.

When contacted, Malta Tourism Authority regulatory director Frank Farrugia said the authorities were as concerned as the guides' union.

The law differentiates between an organised excursion and a transfer between one or more places. The regulations also distinguish between guiding in scheduled and non-scheduled areas.

Since the MTA and the guides' union are contesting the interpretation of the law, Mr Farrugia does not think it ethical to voice publicly an opinion until the legal interpretation becomes clearer.

However, it is clearly prohibited to guide without the required licence in scheduled areas, these being large areas of archaeological, cultural and architectural interest.  

Mr Farrugia underlined that a small force of MTA inspectors cannot possibly constantly monitor all tourist sites as well as perform regular inspections of all the accommodation, catering, diving, travel agency, timeshare sectors as well as handle all sorts of complaints generated by tourists and locals.

Nevertheless, random inspections are carried out and in effect the MTA did manage to march people to court on this issue, he said.

"We also appreciate the co-operation provided by the guides themselves who get in touch with us so that we would be able to rush to the scene as soon as possible and catch the culprit even though there were a few false alarms which unnecessarily disrupted our overstretched enforcement unit."